Woodbine Turf Champions Day Preview: Four Grade 1 Races Chase Breeders' Cup Berths
Woodbine hands out four Grade 1 trophies in one afternoon on Saturday, September 12, and every one of them comes with a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series berth attached. Turf Champions Day starts at 1:00 p.m. ET on the newly renovated E.P. Taylor Turf Course, and this is the first time Woodbine has put four Win and You're In races on a single card. The headliner is the $1,000,000 Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, but the $750,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes and a pair of $500,000 Grade 1 two year old tests, the Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes and the bet365 Summer Stakes, all matter just as much if you're tracking the road to Del Mar.
What Turf Champions Day Brings to Woodbine
Four Grade 1s on one card is a rarity anywhere in North America, and Woodbine built this one around its own signature turf course. The E.P. Taylor Turf Course stretches to twelve furlongs around, with a 1,440 foot stretch that runs about 30 percent longer than Belmont's. That extra room rewards horses that save their turn of foot for the final furlong, which is part of why European raiders have historically traveled well here. Charlie Appleby's Godolphin runners have won the Woodbine Mile three times in the last four years, including last year's winner Notable Speech, who went on to add the Breeders' Cup Mile and the Eclipse Award for champion male turf horse to his resume.
The four Grade 1s split neatly into two threads. The Woodbine Mile and E.P. Taylor Stakes are the open age tests, run at a mile and a mile and a quarter. The Natalma and Summer Stakes are the two year old prep races, each worth a Win and You're In spot in their respective Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf divisions.
Grade 1 Woodbine Mile: Deterministic Headlines a Loaded Field
The 30th running of the Woodbine Mile carries a $1,000,000 purse over one mile on the turf, and it's open to three year olds and up. Wise Dan still owns the race record at 1:31.75, set in 2012, a mark that has stood for over a decade.
Trainer Miguel Clement's Deterministic arrives as the horse to beat. He's won four straight Grade 1 races, most recently the Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga on August 8, and he's expected to keep racing through the end of the year before heading to stud at Lane's End Farm. Kendrick Carmouche has the mount.
Defending champion Notable Speech returns for trainer Charlie Appleby and Godolphin, again with William Buick aboard. He beat this field last year and heads back in with a Breeders' Cup Mile and an Eclipse Award added to his page since. Also on the probable list for Godolphin are Opera Ballo and Talk of New York, both nominated but not yet confirmed for a start.
Kevin Attard trains Gas Me Up, a recent winner of the Grade 2 King Edward at Woodbine, with Fraser Aebly named to ride. Archivist, campaigned by Wathnan Racing for trainer Hamad Al Jehani, arrives off a Group 3 win at York. Gran Oriente, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., was runner up in the Grade 1 Arlington Million and adds another live contender from the American ranks. Jack Sisterson's Vina Arana, a recent Grade 2 Nassau winner, and David Jacobson's supplemental entry Pierre, with Javier Castellano riding, round out a field that also includes Irish Aces, Itsastormymonday and Silius.
Entries for the Woodbine Mile close on Wednesday, September 9, so post positions and morning line odds will not be set until Woodbine's overnight sheet drops later this week. We'll update this preview with the official post draw and morning line as soon as they're released. No scratches have been reported from the probable list above as of this writing.
| Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Post | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archivist (GB) | Hamad Al Jehani | TBA | TBC | TBC |
| Deterministic | Miguel Clement | Kendrick Carmouche | TBC | TBC |
| Gas Me Up | Kevin Attard | Fraser Aebly | TBC | TBC |
| Irish Aces | Brendan Walsh | Pietro Moran | TBC | TBC |
| Itsastormymonday | Don MacRae | Rafael Hernandez | TBC | TBC |
| Notable Speech (GB) | Charlie Appleby | William Buick | TBC | TBC |
| Pierre (supplemental) | David Jacobson | Javier Castellano | TBC | TBC |
| Silius (IRE) | Christophe Ferland | John Velazquez | TBC | TBC |
| Vina Arana (IRE) | Jack Sisterson | Adam Beschizza | TBC | TBC |
Probable field for the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile as released by Woodbine Racetrack. Entries close Wednesday, September 9, so post positions and morning line odds are TBC until the official post draw. No scratches reported as of publication.
Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes: Appleby's Last Missing Piece
The E.P. Taylor Stakes carries a $750,000 purse at a mile and a quarter on the turf, and it's the one Grade 1 on this card that Charlie Appleby has never won at Woodbine. European invaders have taken this race 23 times since the E.P. Taylor Turf Course opened 32 years ago, and Godolphin's Diamond Rain, who finished second by a head to She Feels Pretty last year, headlines the horses nominated for another crack at it.
Graham Motion has three live possibilities among the nominees: Gimme a Nother, fresh off a win in the Beverly D. at Arlington, Warming, who took the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon at Del Mar, and Vronti, a stakes winner earlier this year at Del Mar. Brad Cox has nominated Fionn, Bless the Broken and Stellify, all Grade 1 caliber fillies and mares, giving the race a genuinely deep American contingent to test the European raiders.
The E.P. Taylor field is drawn from 21 nominations. Woodbine has not yet released a probable starters list for this race, so we're holding off on naming a final field until it does, rather than guessing at who actually shows up. Check back for the post position draw and morning line once entries close Wednesday.
Grade 1 Natalma Stakes and bet365 Summer Stakes: Two Year Olds Chase Breeders' Cup Berths
The Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes, for two year old fillies, and the bet365 Summer Stakes, for two year old colts, are each worth $500,000 and each carries a Win and You're In berth into their respective Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf division. Godolphin has won each of these races twice in recent years and is expected to have runners nominated again this year. The Natalma drew 27 nominations and the Summer Stakes drew 29, both well above the size of a normal field, so expect a significant scratch and defection rate before Wednesday's entry box.
Neither race has a probable starters list out yet. Once Woodbine releases one, or the official overnight sheet posts on entry day, we'll fold the confirmed fields, jockeys, trainers and morning line into this preview.
Betting the Card: Format and Angles
All four Grade 1s run on turf, all four pay out a Breeders' Cup berth to the winner, and all four are worth building an exacta or superfecta around once the fields are official. The Woodbine Mile is the deepest betting race of the day given the mix of established Grade 1 horses like Deterministic and Notable Speech against improving types like Gas Me Up and Vina Arana. The E.P. Taylor sets up as a straight speed versus stalker matchup between Diamond Rain and the Motion and Cox horses. The two year old races are always the hardest to read on official pace figures alone since so few of these horses have raced beyond five or six furlongs on this particular turf course, so lean on recent workouts and pedigree for grass affinity once those fields firm up.
We'll be back with post positions, morning line odds and a full card breakdown before Saturday.
Bet Turf Champions Day
Four Grade 1s, four Breeders' Cup berths and a renovated turf course built for closers. Turf Champions Day gives you plenty to work with once the fields lock in this week.
Bet online at app.mywinners.com, on the MyWinners: Racing & Sports app on iOS or Android, or go here to find your nearest MyWinners or Winners venue in CT.
Frequently Asked Questions
Turf Champions Day at Woodbine goes off at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 12, with the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile as the featured race on a card that includes four Grade 1s in total.
The Woodbine Mile carries a $1,000,000 purse over one mile on turf. It's the 30th running of the race and the anchor event of Turf Champions Day.
A Win and You're In race guarantees its winner a starting berth in a specific Breeders' Cup World Championships race later in the year. All four Grade 1s on Turf Champions Day, the Woodbine Mile, the E.P. Taylor Stakes, the Natalma Stakes and the bet365 Summer Stakes, carry this designation.
Notable Speech, trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin and ridden by William Buick, won the 2025 Woodbine Mile. He went on to win the Breeders' Cup Mile and the Eclipse Award for champion male turf horse. Notable Speech is back on this year's probable list to defend his title.
Entries for all four Grade 1 races on Turf Champions Day close on Wednesday, September 9. Post positions and morning line odds are set after that, so the final fields firm up just a few days out from the Saturday card.
